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Starship Mine (episode)
On an evacuated USS Enterprise-D, Picard plays a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with terrorists who want to steal toxic waste from the warp core as a lethal beam sweeps the ship. Summary The crew of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|USS Enterprise-D]] heads to the Remmler Array, where they are scheduled for a baryon sweep, a maintenance cycle that removes large amounts of radiation that builds up in the hulls of starships that travel for extended periods at warp. Captain Picard is less than enthused over the visit, as he has to meet with Commander Calvin "Hutch" Hutchinson, a Starfleet officer known for his gift of gab. When they arrive, La Forge informs Picard that he needs to install additional field diverters to protect the primary systems on board. He needs the equipment because the amount of radiation in the hull is so high that the baryon sweep may be more intense than normal. Picard agrees and instructs the ship's computer to shut down the primary systems in 30 minutes. In fact, Worf and La Forge attempt to be excused from Hutchinson's reception. Worf is excused because he was first. The entire ship is evacuated, and Picard takes one last look on the Bridge. He then sees a crew walking onto the Bridge to install some equipment. Assuming that was the crew that La Forge ordered, he thinks nothing of it and transports to Hutchinson's reception at the Arkaria Base. True to form, Hutchinson greets each member of the crew talks to the crew about horn fowl mating, weather conditions, and horseback riding. Picard hears about the horseback riding and sees a way to escape from the meeting -- the damp weather and isolation on the trails sounds perfect -- and returns to the Enterprise to get his saddle. After retrieving his saddle, Picard walks to the transporter room, but stops when he notices an open ODN junction with a severed ODN line. He encounters Devor, who says he is performing last minute maintenance to the systems before the baryon sweep begins. Picard agrees to let him get back to his work and starts to walk away. Devor attacks Picard from behind with a laser welder, but Picard disables him with a Vulcan nerve pinch. Picard runs to the transporter room with 30 seconds to go before the main computer shuts down the primary systems. Picard then sees several others on the ship, but successfully hides from them to help him escape. He enters the transporter room and starts the transporter, but it immediately shuts down once he stands on the transporter pad. He is trapped on the Enterprise. The baryon sweep has begun, starting at the warp nacelles. Picard finds Devor again and asks him what he is doing on his ship and threatens him with the laser welder. Devor refuses to help him; after all, Picard won't kill him because he is Starfleet. Picard instead knocks him out with a hypospray. He takes Devor's communicator to listen in on the intruder's communications. He walks through the Enterprise where he is captured and taken to Main Engineering. He meets Kelsey and her crew, who are attempting to steal trilithium resin from the Enterprise's warp core. Picard tells her that he is Mister Mot, the ship's barber, and he got lost on the ship trying to collect his saddle. Picard is held under guard, but is able to activate the emergency coolant systems and escapes into the Jefferies tubes. Before he leaves, he shorts out Kelsey's field diverter. Satler follows him. Through the tubes, Picard is attempting to escape but finds the baryon sweep behind the door in front of him. He closes the door, cuts a hole in the floor, and covers it to escape the sweep, but Satler isn't as lucky. He is killed when the baryon sweep passes the closed door. Picard overhears that Kelsey plans to improvise a device to move trilithium resin to Ten Forward, the last place to be scanned by the baryon sweep. Picard warns her not to move such an unstable substance, but she refuses, saying that if he hadn't disabled her field diverter, she wouldn't have to improvise. Picard then makes it difficult to travel to Ten Forward by cutting the rungs in the Jefferies tubes, causing Kelsey to choose a longer, more random, alternative route. Data and Hutchinson are both having "small talk" when La Forge notices unusual energy readings underneath a reception table and asks a member of the staff if he can take a look at it. The staff tells him there's nothing to worry about. Riker is wondering why the staff is trying to move La Forge from the table. Orton, the station administrator, then pulls out a disruptor, shoots both La Forge and Hutchinson, and holds the rest of the group hostage in the reception hall. Hutchinson is killed and La Forge is severely injured, and he needs to get to a medical facility. In order to take control of the room, Dr. Crusher says she can create a hypersonic pulse using La Forge's VISOR. It would render everyone except Data immediately unconscious. When the VISOR is ready, they needed a diversion from a bright light that will appear from the device. Commander Riker causes the diversion and the light is ignored when Riker punches Orton. Riker is knocked unconscious briefly. Kiros captures Picard and meets Kelsey outside of Ten Forward. She says that her reason for stealing the trilithium resin was profit. She planned to sell it to people who have radical political agendas, even though she didn't have one. Picard disables Kiros when he uses an improvised explosive. Kelsey and Picard then fight over the trilithium resin, while the baryon sweep enters the room. Kelsey gains the upper hand, transports to her ship, and escapes, but not before Picard removes the control rod on the trilithium resin canister. Picard quickly uses his communicator to call Arkaria Base and have them stop the baryon sweep. Data shuts down the sweep and Orton and his associates are taken into custody. The ship explodes shortly after leaving the array due to Picard's sabotage of the trilithium resin container. Picard is in Sickbay where he is being treated for the injuries he incurred with the fight in Ten Forward with Kelsey. Picard is more concerned with getting back his saddle, which he left on Deck 7 after he was attempting to transport off the Enterprise before the baryon sweep began. Worf finds the saddle, and Picard says he regrets not being able to use it on an actual horse. Memorable Quotes "I have to admit that it has a sort of strange fascination - how long can two people talk about nothing?" : - Riker, to Troi about Data's and Cmdr. Hutchinson's non-stop small talk "You have a saddle on board the ''Enterprise?" or "''Your saddle?" : - La Forge, Worf, Kelsey, and Riker "I only wish I had the opportunity to use it on a horse." "Of course." : - Picard, lamenting on his unused saddle, and Worf responding, finally understanding why Picard keeps a saddle on the ship Background Information * Tim Russ, who plays terrorist Devor in this episode, is better known for playing Tuvok throughout the run of Star Trek: Voyager. He also guest stars in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as T'Kar and the mirror Tuvok. He also plays a bridge officer on the ''Enterprise''-B in . It is interesting to note that in this episode, Tim Russ (who goes on to play a Vulcan on Star Trek: Voyager) is the recipient of an apparent Vulcan nerve pinch from Jean-Luc Picard. * The apparent Vulcan nerve pinch may have in fact been a simple carotid-artery block; alternately, it is possible that Picard's mind meld with Sarek (in ) left him with the ability to perform that technique. * After he is shot, Hutchinson is not seen or mentioned again. However, a following scene pans across a blue fabric that is covering a humanoid body, indicating he was killed. Video and DVD releases * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 72, . * As part of the TNG Season 6 DVD collection. * As part of the Region 2 release of the Star Trek: The Next Generation - Jean-Luc Picard Collection. Links and References Guest Stars *David Spielberg as Calvin Hutchinson *Marie Marshall as Kelsey *Tim Russ as Devor *Glenn Morshower as Orton *Tom Nibley as Neil *Tim de Zarn as Satler *Patricia Tallman as Kiros *Arlee Reed as Arkarian waiter *Alan Altshuld as Pomet Co-Star *Majel Barrett as the computer voice Uncredited Co-Stars *David Keith Anderson as Ensign Armstrong *Tracee Lee Cocco as Lieutenant j.g. Jae *Grace Harrell as an operations division officer *Michael Moorhead as a science division ensign **Unknown actor as a command division lieutenant Uncredited Stunt doubles *Irving E. Lewis as stunt double for LeVar Burton *John Nowak as stunt double for Patrick Stewart *Mark Riccardi as stunt double for Jonathan Frakes *Unknown stunt performers as **stunt double for Tim Russ **stunt double for David Spielberg **stunt double for Marie Marshall References 2369; Arkaria; Arkaria Base; Arkarian horn fowl; barber; baryons; baryon sweep; Conklin; crossbow; dynamic stabilizer; Edwell; etymology; field diverters; Gaspar VII; hypersonic pulse; laser torch; [[USS Magellan|USS Magellan]]; magnetic pole; Mitchell (Admiral); Mot; ornithology; Remmler Array; Riskian cheese pastry; saddle; Sheliak; shuttle drone; sickbay; Starbase 97; Tyrellia; Tyrellian; Tyrellian laser-art; trilithium resin; VISOR; Vulcan nerve pinch |next= }} Category:TNG episodes de:In der Hand von Terroristen es:Starship Mine nl:Starship Mine